Training company stresses importance of workplace safety after DMAX plant shooting

MORAINE — The workplace shooting at a DMAX plant in Moraine is forcing companies and workers to look at how safe they are and what they can improve.

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Both Moraine police and some families of workers told News Center 7 they don’t think the violence could have been predicted. A man who coaches companies and employees on steps to try and minimize the danger admitted nothing is 100 percent preventable, but you can try to move the odds of prevention and survival in your favor.

“It’s important to drive a safety culture first,” Mark Pohl said.

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Pohl runs the Pohl Group, a company of former FBI and Defense Department agents that help train everyone on safe workplaces. The idea is to have a culture where everyone on every level is comfortable speaking up if they see potentially dangerous situations developing.

“When you see something, say something but people have to know what that something is,” he told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell.

Pohl said all companies want their employees to be in safe spaces, but they have to take concrete action to do it. DMAX has nearly 1,000 employees on various shifts and Pohl said it’s important for internal security to speak with each other on every level.

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“How do we know what’s going on in someone’s life if we don’t ask questions? When we talk about internal security, it’s a lot about caring for each other,” he said.

Pohl’s company works with businesses and schools across the Miami Valley. He trains employees and individuals how to not get stuck in the initial shock of a violent situation.

“Move to the point of taking decisive action,” Pohl said.

The Pohl Group also works a lot on recovery, counseling, and other things to help employees and companies be resilient.

“It is very difficult to get everyone moving again after these traumatic events occur,” he said.

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